High school football: Examining the Central Jersey, Group 5 playoff picture

> No. 20 Old Bridge (6-1, 134) and No. 10 Manalapan (7-0, 120) are both heavily favored to win their games this week and wrap up the 1- and 2-seeds, respectively.

> Trenton (7-1, 119) will likely be the 3-seed. Monroe (6-2, 115) should be the 4-seed if Middletown North defeats Freehold Township.

> Sayreville (6-2, 113) should end up as the 5-seed. South Brunswick (5-3, 106) has a great deal of residuals out there that should come through and push it up to the 6-seed. Hunterdon Central (5-3, 107) looks like it is locked in as the 7-seed.

> The eighth and final spot is where the excitement will be located. This is a two-horse race between Hillsborough (4-4, 97) and Brick Memorial (5-3, 91). Montgomery (4-4, 94) is technically still in it, but its only path involves complete and unlikely chaos, starting with Plainfield snapping a 16-game losing streak and stunning Elizabeth.

Let’s take a closer look:

Hillsborough can gain two residual points this week – one from a Phillipsburg victory over Immaculata and one from a Union win over Hunterdon Central. A Westfield win over Scotch Plains wouldn't get Hillsborough a point, but would help in tiebreaker support. At any rate, Hillsborough should finish with 99 power points, with a worst case of 97 and a middle ground of 98.

Brick Memorial has a lot more residuals available to it this week, however:> 3 guaranteed from Southern/Toms River East game> 3 if Middletown North defeats Freehold Township> 3 if Neptune defeats Wall> 3 if Toms River North defeats Toms River South> 1 from either a Jackson win over Brick Township or a Toms River South win over Toms River North (one of these will be BM’s dropped game)

So, how should this all shake out? The three guaranteed pushes Brick Memorial to 94. TR South should defeat TR North, which is winless, so make that 95. This is going to come down to the Middletown North/Freehold Township and Neptune/Wall games, then.

Middletown North/Freehold Township looks like a toss-up. So too does Neptune/Wall.

If Middletown North and Neptune both win, Brick Memorial is in. If both lose, Hillsborough is in. If one of those teams win, Hillsborough needs to hope it gets both its residuals to eke in by a point. If the two teams end tied at 98, lord knows what happens – although as of now, Hillsborough owns the tiebreaker, but that can change – and if Hillsborough doesn’t get any residuals, Brick Memorial probably can get in with just one of those two teams winning.

So…if you are a Hillsborough fan, you are also a Wall fan, Freehold Township fan, Union fan, Westfield fan and Phillipsburg fan this week.

If you are a Brick Memorial fan, you are also a Neptune fan, Hunterdon Central fan, Immaculata fan, Scotch Plains fan and a Middletown North fan this week.